A/W: The Apple Car for 2019?

[kevm14]

The iCar?

http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/ap ... dailydrive

Company lures engineers from VW, Tesla and more

VW, eh? So this iCar will get 200 eMPG.

[Bob]

They have taken a lot of engineers from the battery industry lately as well, and I don't think it was all to work on the next iPhone battery.

[Bob]

From Apple's perspective, they may be nearing the peak of how much consumer spending they can capture from electronics. When you look at what households spend money on, the auto industry is a logical next place to look to make money.

[kevm14]

They obviously see potential for some key Apple trademarks:

1) High margin potential
2) Get in early while the segment is still being defined and define it
3) Apply hardware styling capability and make people want the product (so they can be unique by all buying the same thing...too snarky?) - people already identify with their cars
4) The way this country is laid out, cars will be needed in some form for the foreseeable future
5) EV because they're definitely not going to get into the ICE business. So not Silicon Valley.

[Bob]

I don't think there is any room for new entrants to the ICE car market in the US so they are probably making the right call by going electric. It will be interesting to see how much they try to engage directly with Tesla.

One interesting thing about Tesla is that many of their buyers, including one in particular who I talked to, are spending much more than they otherwise would have spent on a car. This is probably a good omen for Apple and will enable them to charge a premium price.

[Adam]

Starting at $150k for the 64Gb model.

[bill25]

As someone who is "Ok" with performance electrics someday being affordable, Apple getting involved probably isn't going to help with prices coming down...

At the present, it does seem like a small niche market to get into. Plus now that VW will never be allowed to sell diesels in America again they are going to also have to compete in the battery segment, and an Apple fan having to choose between Apple and VW....Minds will explode!

[kevm14]

Apple is literally salivating at the untapped potential of what is turning out to be the market base for Tesla vehicles.

[bill25]

Call me crazy but that base today isn't very big. I understand that it could grow, but I doubt that high pricing is going to help growth. I guess we will see how long $2 gas lasts... My electric bill is already high so I am not looking to increase that.

[bill25]

I am also not looking to buy a car from a company that regularly renders perfectly good phones useless with a new software push...